Six things to settle before you pick.
Short answers to the questions that decide a barrel, each from the maker’s own guide or the store listing.
Diameter is headroom
A barrel is about as tall inside as it is wide, and only down the middle. The ceiling curves down toward the benches, so the inside diameter is the number to read.
Over six feet tall? Look at the 7 ft 3 in barrels: the Thermory 60 series and the SaunaLife EE6G. The Ergo is 6 ft 5 in across, the Thermory Cozy 6 ft 1 in, and the Finnmark stands 5 ft 11 in inside.
Sources: Thermory barrel brochure · SaunaLife EE6G listing · SaunaLife E6 dimensions · Finnmark FD-7 listing
Porch or no porch
A porch gives you a dry spot for towels and shoes, out of the rain. Of the barrels here, only the Thermory line has one.
It comes out of the same 7 ft 4 in length. A 60 series room with the porch holds 212 cu ft; the same barrel without it holds 265 cu ft and seats six.
Sources: Thermory barrel brochure · Thermory 60 series listing
Window, glass front or a private back
A rear window lights the far end of the room. Thermory’s is a half-moon, 7 ft wide on the 60 series. SaunaLife’s Ergo W models add one too.
A glass front opens the door wall to the yard: the EE6G, the EE8G, the Ergo G models and the Finnmark. Want the back private? Choose a solid back, such as the Thermory No. 61 or 63 or the Ergo E6, E7 or E8.
Sources: Thermory barrel brochure · SaunaLife Ergo listing · SaunaLife EE6G listing · SaunaLife EE8G listing · Finnmark FD-7 listing
Sizing a heater for a round room
Size on the room’s volume, then add for glass. Heater makers count glass as a cold surface, so a glass front adds to the room the heater sees. The EE6G’s 189 cu ft room is listed at 348 cu ft adjusted.
Each listing offers heater packages picked for that barrel: 8 kW for the EE6G, 8 to 10 kW or a wood stove for the EE8G. Thermory’s brochure puts it plainly: an electric heater needs a 240 volt line and an electrician.
Sources: SaunaLife EE6G listing · SaunaLife EE8G listing · Thermory barrel brochure · Sauna heaters on SaunaDesignPro
The pad, and the truck
The cradles need a level, stable base that stays dry. Thermory prefers concrete, pavers or crushed stone, on a site free of standing water after rain. On grass, Finnmark puts pavers or flagstone under the cradles.
Level matters for the door: Thermory and SaunaLife both warn that an uneven base keeps it from closing right. The kit comes by freight truck with a liftgate, and the driver sets the crate down where the truck can reach. An EE6G crate weighs about 1,500 lb.
Sources: Thermory No. 60 and No. 61 assembly guide (2026) · Finnmark FD-7 manual · SaunaLife EE6G installation manual · SaunaLife EE6G listing · SaunaLife Ergo listing
How long the build takes
SaunaLife rates the EE6G as a one-day build for two people. Thermory’s guides recommend two people for every barrel.
Thermory’s staves and cradles arrive cut to size. The one cut you make is the door opening in the front wall, with the hand saw in the kit. Book the electrician for the heater, and have the pad level before the crate comes.
Sources: SaunaLife EE6G listing · Thermory No. 50 to No. 53, No. 62 and No. 63 assembly guide (2026) · Thermory No. 60 and No. 61 assembly guide (2026) · Thermory barrel brochure
Questions about barrel saunas
Which barrel sauna has the most headroom?
The Thermory 60 series and the SaunaLife EE6G are 7 ft 3 in across inside, the tallest rooms on this page. The SaunaLife Ergo is 6 ft 5 in across and the Thermory Cozy 6 ft 1 in.
Sources: Thermory barrel brochure · SaunaLife EE6G listing · SaunaLife E6 dimensionsWhat do I set a barrel sauna on?
A level, stable base that sheds water. Thermory prefers concrete, pavers or crushed stone, and its 2026 guide asks for the base frame to sit above the ground on a water-resistant layer such as bitumen strips. Finnmark also accepts wood decking, and on grass it puts pavers or flagstone under the cradles.
Sources: Thermory No. 60 and No. 61 assembly guide (2026) · Finnmark FD-7 manualCan I heat a barrel sauna with wood?
Yes, in some. The SaunaLife EE8G listing offers a Harvia M3 or a HUUM HIVE wood stove with its chimney, floor plate and clearance kit, and the Ergo listing’s floor kit is the one to add with a wood stove. The Thermory listings offer electric packages.
Sources: SaunaLife EE8G listing · SaunaLife Ergo listing · Thermory 60 series listingCan I get a black barrel sauna?
Thermory’s Ignite barrels have a black outside finish. SaunaLife’s black packages come with two cans of black exterior paint that you or your installer apply during assembly; they do not arrive painted.
Sources: Thermory Ignite listing · SaunaLife Ergo listing · SaunaLife EE6G listingHow is the Finnmark combination barrel different?
It has infrared panels and a traditional rock heater in the same room, built to run at the same time. The infrared panels switch off at 170°F. Choose the FD-6 in cedar or the FD-7 in Thermo-Aspen.
Sources: Finnmark FD-7 manual · Finnmark FD-7 listing · Finnmark FD-6 listingHow does a barrel sauna arrive?
As a crate on a freight truck with a liftgate. The driver sets it on the ground, so the truck needs room to reach your drive. Plan helpers to carry the staves to the pad.
Sources: SaunaLife Ergo listing · SaunaLife EE6G listingCan I see a barrel sauna in 3D first?
Yes. The Thermory barrel page has an interactive 3D model you can turn and look into. For a sauna of your own design, the designer builds it in 3D as you go.
Sources: Thermory Barrel Sauna on SaunaDesignPro